Doing Business in Japan

Re:Doing Business in Japan by drderidder on Friday November 07, 2014 @11:10PM (#8575966)

There's some truth in that. I lived in Japan for many years and the egalitarianism in the society made for a pretty smooth running country that still impresses me. At the root of arguments that tech workers deserve a higher salary there seems to be an underlying assumption that people deserve more if they're more intelligent or talented. I lean more towards the idea that "to whom much has been given, much shall be required". There's an organization called the WageMark Foundation[1] that ranks companies on wage disparity, setting 8:1 as their target (on average its closer to 200:1)[2]. They say large wage gaps undermine good business practices and have proven “detrimental to economic growth and the existence of a healthy middle-income population.” When I found a local company that has a max wage gap of 10:1 and an inclusive profit sharing structure[3], they earned my respect and customer loyalty.

  [1] https://www.wagemark.org/ 
  [2] http://go.bloomberg.com/multimedia/ceo-pay-ratio/
  [3] http://tinyurl.com/mahpbd2

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Re:Doing Business in Japan by jodrellblank on Saturday November 08, 2014 @01:23AM (#8576214)

At the root of arguments that tech workers deserve a higher salary there seems to be an underlying assumption that people deserve more if they're more intelligent or talented.

Do you really think people are arguing from that perspective?

Maybe "to whom much has been given, much shall be required" works as a moral principle, but when talking about business transactions and programmers increasing company income, 'much shall be required from the more talented' meaning 'required by your boss, who will pocket the income from your work instead of you having it' that seems more 'exploitative' than 'enlightened'.

Maybe if the entire company had everyone at the same pay, and any excess income was taxed for the use of the whole society, I could see it.

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Re:Doing Business in Japan by lmm on Saturday November 08, 2014 @04:32AM (#8576438)

> Maybe if the entire company had everyone at the same pay, and any excess income was taxed for the use of the whole society, I could see it.

I think that's why this works in Japan. The American notion of these CEOs earning millions (and then getting extra millions in bonuses even when they screw up or are fired) is very foreign (as the article says, the company will keep you in style appropriate to your station, but in more subtle ways). The conglomerate pays everyone similarly, makes modest profits (which probably means that some parts of it are losing money big time, and subsidized by the profitable divisions - but it would be unthinkable to just close a division and fire everyone) and returns them to shareholders, who are at least perceived as being mostly ordinary folks saving for retirement.

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Re:Doing Business in Japan by drderidder on Sunday November 09, 2014 @11:25PM (#8582002)

Well, I think some people are arguing that the market is a fair arbiter of wealth distribution. A lot of places have a more nuanced view. Janitors prevent the spread of disease and save lives. How many programmers can say that, I wonder.

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Re:Doing Business in Japan by hrabago on Saturday November 08, 2014 @06:48AM (#8576596)

At the root of arguments that tech workers deserve a higher salary there seems to be an underlying assumption that people deserve more if they're more intelligent or talented.

I don't believe this to the be the root at all. People are mostly arguing that it's all about market value.

I've seen people who were more talented than me in lower income jobs, and I'm sure the other scenario exists as well. However, I'm employed based on a specific talent which is also associated with a specific median market value.

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